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Food

If the repressive summer heat leaves you feeling a bit cooped up, you can run afoul (or more accurately, a fowl) this fall at the second annual National Fried Chicken Festival. Today the team behind FCF dropped some finger-lickin' facts about the fall fest.

Crescent City foodies and locavores might recognize the name 'Jazzmen Rice' from the many restaurants around town that namedrop the local white and brown grain varieties on their menus. Indeed, in just seven years this distinctly flavorful rice has gained a reputation for supplying “music for your mouth” to New Orleanians and global consumers alike, successfully wedding sustainability and health consciousness with a bit of Louisiana's cultural heritage.

Sure, there are po’boys, muffalettas, red beans & rice, and more, but nothing gets to the sugary core of New Orleans culinary traditions quite like the beignet. The wise folks behind the treat’s namesake celebration understand this, bringing back Beignet Fest for a second annual go around in City Park.

Louisianans love Popeyes (well, some might love the chain more than others), and now the Boot-born fast food chain is offering all the more reason to chow down with them thanks to a food flavor innovation. This month, Popeyes is serving Sweet and Crunchy Tenders, fried chicken pieces coated in shortbread cookies.

Have you ever looked in your fridge and wondered where on earth your food actually comes from? Conscious consumption is a rising movement in this country — from garments proudly bearing Made in the USA tags to food grown in your own backyard. Local locavores are making is easy to eat fresher, healthier, and more sustainably in the Big Easy with the 7th annual New Orleans Eat Local Challenge.

Royal Brewery sits among, and is typical of, the many warehouses that mark the area of New Orleans East situated near the lip of the levee, near the low flying planes headed towards, or from New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport. Royal Brewery is one of those special places where one can feel the breeze of the Mississippi making its journey upon lucky New Orleans residents. Their headquarters is not markedly different from the other warehouses in the area, save for the three hard working souls and the 30-barrel brewhouse system containing the brewmasters’ effervescent ales.

Year after year, the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience (NOWFE) never fails to impress with a comprehensive celebration that would make Bacchus proud. This go around, NOWFE is really kicking it up in 2017. “We are excited to bring something new and unique to NOWFE for the 25th anniversary," said NOWFE Executive Director Jamie Hall. The ever-popular Royal Street Stroll and the Grand Tasting events will return, while joining the impressive lineup includes hand-making pasta seminar and a proper English high tea.

A crusty baguette is to a po-boy as brass bands are to a second-line parade — why bother with the whole shebang if you’re not going to do it right? After successful starch showdowns in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, a new competition coming to town called Battle: Baguette calls upon New Orleanians to decide which bakery is offering up the best loaf in town.

In just under two weeks, the annual New Orleans Oyster Festival will return for it’s eighth attempt at educating the country about the benefits of the Louisiana Gulf Oyster, while celebrating the many restaurants and farmers who have made the French Quarter into the Oyster Capital of America. The free fest, which will run June 3-4, will feature food, drinks, crafts, and of course, live music.

Be it jambalaya and Sazeracs or po-boys and Abita, the union of food and beverage is the holiest of matrimonies in the Crescent City. A new campaign “Serve with a Coca-Cola” enlisted several top New Orleans chefs to do just that — with Aarón Sánchez of Johnny Sánchez and Byron Bradley of Sylvain offering meals to pair with the soda in a series of new ads.